| 9/20/1999 | |
| Edfu and Kom Ombo | |
| tHIS (damn caps lock) morning found us docked at Edfu. Our day started with breakfast, as usual, then on to the sites. We debarked the ship, and climbed the harrowing stairs to street level. We boarded our not-so-pleasant smelling horse drawn carriage to take us to the temple of Horace. The ride through town was pleasant. The place was just waking up. There were children heading off to school, and other typical early morning activities going on around us. We were dropped of a little ways away from the site, so we walked through a small market area to the temple. It was another example of a small, third world town. Most of the stores were closed, which, up until now, I thought was against the law here. It was very peaceful. The temple was very impressive, and we didn't even get into any trouble while seeing it (imagine that). A number of the images were defaced by the Copts (Egyptian Christians) when they moved into the temple a few thousand years later. I couldn't help but wonder, if the images were so evil, wouldn't that imply that the temple itself is evil, and hence would be unsuitable for Christian habitation? Hmmm... The was some debate among several of the group members as to whether the damage was actually performed by the Copts. I don't know what would prompt this, except possibly sympathetic guilt from other Christians. Of course, by the time we were leaving the site, the bazaar was in full swing. As usual, well, you know. Somehow, Chrissie determined that we needed a table cloth and napkins. Oh, joy. So, we tracked one down, which wasn't very difficult, and ten rounds later it was ours. We re-boarded our carriage and headed back to the boat. We noticed the condition of the horses that were towing the carriages around town. Most of them look malnourished, and some looked downright emaciated. We felt very bad for them. When we arrived at the water front, the driver requested a tip (which was to be handled by the tour guide). When we informed him of this, he said he wanted some extra for the horse; apparently his eaves dropping skills are excellent. Anyway, I was thinking to myself "dude, if I were to tip the horse, it would be in carrots, not pounds, and I would give it to him, not you". We politely declined and boarded the ship. We spent the rest of the morning catching up on postcards and my journal while waiting to settle up our account with the tour guide. After lunch, Mike and I repeated our previous days' activity: hanging in the bar (it's hot out there dammit) and discussing various topics and past experiences over a beer. The more we talked the more weird it became how our lives have paralleled. Our afternoon tour was in Kom Ombo, where there is yet another, somewhat younger, large temple. This one was dedicated to the crocodile god. Apparently the locals were tired of being eaten. The place was spectacular, and once again we made it through without any international incidents, though we came close when Don (I think it was him anyway) Mike started climbing up to an off-limits area. Shahinaz talked them down before the temple Gestapo arrived. Once back on board, it was tea-time. Of course, we substituted beer, but it was the same principle. Meanwhile, our wives, along with a number of other tour members were "getting ink done" as it were. The cruise people brought a "henna" artist aboard, and for about $6 she would pseudo-tattoo Nubian patterns on to your hands, arms, legs, or whatever other areas you may wish to "liven up". Chris got her hand done; Alicia got her hand, as well as other unmentionables (ok, this is the internet, and it's not like you're going to see it, her breast) done. The designs are supposed to last about two weeks or so. It looks pretty cool, and fetched a lot of compliments from locals we encountered as the trip went on. After dinner, there was a belly-dancing show. As you can guess, it was most entertaining. However, I kept wondering two things: when would she come by to have us put dollar bills in her belt, and when would she get naked. I guess I've spent to much time in the US (those damn bachelor parties ;)). The dancer coaxed a few from our group to go up and give it a try. One of them being Shahinaz, our tour guide. She was amazing. I think she may even have been better than the professional dancer that they hired to do the show. After the show was over, we retired for the evening. |
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